Matthew 16
I was watching The Hobbit the other day with my daughter. Early in the story,
Bilbo, the hobbit, finds himself hosting a group of dwarves who are planning to
reclaim their treasure from a dragon. The movie adds a bit that is not in the
book. Thorin, the leader of the dwarves, states that the birds are returning to
the mountain, and if they are reading the signs, surely others are too. This
was proof to them that it was time to take on the journey and risk the wrath of
the dragon.
People often want signs to prove what
they believe. They want proofs of what they hold by faith. Sometimes people want
signs that prove something is true, or will take place. It is this kind of a
desire that prompted the Pharisees to ask for a sign – a sign to dispel their
doubt. Interestingly, Jesus didn’t give them one. Indeed, later in the chapter
Jesus told Peter, who had stated his belief in Jesus, “[F]lesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
God does not offer proof. He gives
faith. Faith takes hold to God’s promises, and in the end finds God to be
faithful. That means that, while we might want signs and proof that God will do
what He says, we are not going to get them outside of what He has given in the
Word, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Jesus’ cross and empty tomb stand as the
evidence that God will keep His Word.
The world still looks at God’s people
and desire a sign from us, just as it did from Jesus. It wants us to do good
deeds to prove our faith is real. It pressures us to believe that all we have
to offer is our efforts to make the world a better place. They want earthly
benefit as the sign that our belief is valid. So, what sign shall we give them?
None. Except the, “sign of Jonah” that just as Jonah was three nights in the
belly of the fish, Jesus was three days in the belly of the earth and came out
alive. We proclaim Christ; and Him crucified.
Our mission is not to make the world a
better place – it will, after all, rot. Our mission is to live in forgiveness
by faith in Christ crucified, risen, and coming again. The cool thing is that,
as we live that faith and share it with the world, it will become a better
place. God’s love in Christ always works against sin and its destructive power
in the world.
Lord, help me hold forth the sign of the
cross and empty tomb, and share the forgiveness of sins You have given me by
faith. Amen.
Comments